Culture Fesival
by Snakeeater91
Summary: A retelling of Persona 4's Culture Festival event with a Souji/Yukiko spin on things. It's filled with ridiculous fun and fluffy hijinks that covers the mock group date, both of the beauty pageants, and the night at the Amagi Inn.
1. Group Date Cafe

"Well, lets get started." The class representative said. Souji gave a deep sigh and slouched in his seat.

"_This can only go well."_He thought. He looked over at the girls side of the table and saw Yosuke glaring at him. Souji smirked at him, quite pleased with himself as he was the reason why Yosuke was sitting on the girls side. Yosuke crossed his arms and sighed.

While he couldn't wait to tease Yosuke, he was also quite envious of him, as he was sitting next to Yukiko Amagi. Her eyes shifted around the room. Probably looking for a way out of this awkward hell, Souji assumed. He wasn't surprised, considering Yukiko's never really seemed to care about relationships and such. Hell, he was even surprised she voted for it in first place, let alone be one of the few that actually showed up.

But hey, this wasn't the first time Yukiko surprised him. Such as disproving theories that it was impossible to made a bad grilled cheese sandwich, yet she proved him wrong. Or the theory that nobody was perfect was completely shattered by Yukiko in Souji's eyes.

Souji mentally face-palmed at his corny thoughts. While he had fully come to terms with the fact that he was totally in love with her, that didn't mean he was proud of it. Souji then noticed Yukiko locking eyes with him. Mentally Souji panicked, just noticing he was starring at Yukiko since he started thinking about her. But on the outside, he stayed cool as a cucumber. He was good at that.

Souji made his fingers into a gun and placed the barrel against his head. He mouthed the words "kill me now" to her. Yukiko chucked and smiled at him. Souji smiled in return, but in the corner of his eye he say Chie look back and forth between the two of them and raise her eyebrows at him.

"Uh... you guys can start now." The class rep said, breaking the silence. Souji held in a laugh. He found it funny just how awkward this was.

"...Will someone please start?" He was practically begging for someone to say something. The silence was heavy. Everyone looked down at the table, trying to avoid eye contact with one another. Well, everyone except for Souji. This was one of the few times where Souji didn't try to hide his smile. He found this hilarious. He gave a little nudge to Kanji, prompting him to say something.

"Actually, what the hell is this?" Kanji asked.

"A mock group date." Yosuke replied.

"I-I mean... We're on a group date!" Yosuke said in a high pitched voice and giggled. This is where Souji lost it. He burst out laughing. Most people at the table gave him a surprised look. Most of them haven't seen Souji like this before. He was always the quiet and calm leader, but now he's practically falling out of his seat in laughter. Yukiko has seen this side of him many times before, and she quickly joined in on the laughter.

"Hey! You're the one who made me sit on this side!" Yosuke said. He intended it to be angry, but something about seeing their leader just completely lose it really seemed to lighten the mood.

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry. Look, I'll start." Souji said, finally recovering from his outburst.

"Okay, so, what are your hobbies?" Souji asked the girls side of the table. He now wore a relaxed look and still had a small smile on his face. The whole table seemed to have lightened up.

"I like, uh, Martial Arts in general. M-Mainly watching them..." Chie said, adding a awkward laugh at the end. Just like that, the awkward atmosphere started to creep back in. Souji looked at Yukiko expectantly. Yukiko smiled and nodded at him.

"My hobby is..." Yukiko began, but started to laugh in the middle of the sentence. She locked eyes with Souji and smiled.

"... defeating shadows." Souji and Yukiko just exploded in laughter, while Chie, Yosuke, and Kanji all looked at her in disbelief. The class rep looked at everyone with a confused look on his face. Yosuke quickly went into damage control mode.

"That's not a hobby!" Yosuke yelled, but Yukiko didn't seem to hear him, nor did she seem to care. Chie again looked at Souji and Yukiko with suspicion in her eyes.

"Uh, how about we ask you a question next." Chie said, after Yukiko and Souji recovered. Souji quickly objected.

"Hey, wait! Yosuke didn't answer!" Yosuke glared at him.

"Why would I need to answer?"

"Because I need to get to know you more before I decide if I want to make you my girlfriend!" Everyone besides Yosuke began to laugh.

"What!" Yosuke stood up from his seat and yelled, slamming his hands on the table. Everyone laughed even harder at him. Yosuke quickly said something to defend himself.

"You should be asking Kanji that question!" Kanji's laughter quickly turned into vicious anger. He also got up off of his seat and began to walk around the table to reach Yosuke. Yosuke, finally realizing the magnitude of what he just said, began to make way for the door.

"Hey now! Stop! Both of you! " Souji yelled, and Yosuke and Kanji froze in place.

"Sit back down and relax! Come on, I'm trying to have a good time here." They both say back down. Kanji glared at Yosuke across the table.

"Okay, good. Now, Chie, you wanted to ask a question?" Souji said. After retaining order he went back to having a small smile, as apposed to having to put his stale leader face on. Chie looked at Souji and stated her question.

"What type of girls do you like?" She said, practically directing the question right at Souji.

"Woah, getting right to the point..." Yosuke said.

"I guess... cute girls?" The class rep said. Souji was surprised to even hear his voice. He didn't even remember he was here. He debated on whether or not saying "Wow, deep stuff dude", but just because he wanted to enjoy himself doesn't mean he can be a snarky jerk.

"Man, this is lame..." The class rep said. He looked embarrassed and scratched the back of his head.

"_Wow, I didn't know saying that you like cute girls was so tough and embarrassing for you. It's not like your in love with the person sitting right across from you during a freakin' group date cafe. An event where your suppose to hook up with someone."_Souji thought.

"Oh, now it dawns on you...?" Yosuke said to the class rep. Chie looked at Yukiko who was weirdly quiet now, considering how rowdy she was with Souji earlier. She was looking down at the table.

"_Ahh... I see how it is. When we starting talking about what kind of girls Souji may be into you get all quiet and embarrassed. Awww, how cute."_Chie thought. Chie then turned her gaze toward Souji, who also seemed to be watching Yukiko.

"Your turn. What type of girls do you like?" She asked Souji. Chie saw his small smile go back to the stale leader look that everyone was so accustomed to seeing. Chie tried to read his face for any kind of tell, but she got nothing.

"_No World Series of Poker for me, I guess."_Chie thought.

Yukiko, on the other hand, was actively not looking at Souji's face. Even a slight glimpse of him may turn her whole face red. After a couple of seconds of dead silence from Souji, Yukiko's curiosity got the best of her. She look up to get a quick glance at Souji, and ended up meeting eyes with him. She felt her cheeks grow hot and quickly looked back down at the table.

"Someone like Yukiko." Souji finally said.

"_I knew it!"_Chie thought. She looked over at her best friend to see what her reaction was. Her blush was impossible to miss and she could see her small smile as she looked at Souji.

"Huh? Umm... thank you... I guess?" Yukiko said. Chie rolled her eyes. She wanted Yukiko to just admit her feelings for him right then and there so they can finally get together.

"Your turn, Kanji-kun." Chie said.

Souji was to caught up in his own thoughts to care what Kanji said. It took a lot out of him to muster up the courage to say that he liked Yukiko. Seeing her reaction, he no longer was to scared or embarrassed to ask Yukiko questions that have been on his mind since they've first met.

The smile he wore throughout the activity turned into a look of fierce determination. He needed to know how Yukiko felt about him, and he was going to find out.

"Any of us you like, Yukiko?" Souji asked.

"_Wow, he is going IN right now."_Yosuke thought. While Souji may have been making fun of him throughout this mock group date, he couldn't help but cheer Souji on as he started to make his move on Yukiko. He knew that Souji was interested in Yukiko for some time now, but was to scared to do anything about it.

Hell, it was the first and only time Souji was to scared to do something, from what Yosuke could remember. Risking your life to save people inside a television? Was nothing for Souji. Entering a cross-dressing pageant? Nothing. Eating life threatening food? Nope. Telling a girl you have feelings for her? Yosuke could tell Souji was almost crapping his pants when he brought up the subject.

"_Not like I have any room to talk, though."_Yosuke thought, as he looked on the other side of the table at Chie.

"Huh? That's... um..." Yukiko said. She looked at the table in embarrassment. She knew that Souji was looking at her, anticipating her answer. She wanted to finally tell Souji just how much he meant to her. As much as she just wanted to shout "You! I love you Souji!" She didn't want to have her personal business so out in the open, especially with such a delicate subject such as her feelings for Souji.

She looked up and smiled at Souji, no longer trying to hide her blush.

"Do I have to say it in front of everyone...?" Yukiko asked.

Souji smiled and shook his head. Yukiko nodded in response and went back to starring at the table, blushing furiously. Souji didn't even try to hide his big smile as he went back to a more relaxed position, as opposed to being so tense and nervous.

After a quick intrusion from Rise and awkward heavy silence, both of which Souji nor Yukiko seemed to notice, as they were both of their minds fluttered with possibilities, Yosuke said.

"Mark it. The group date cafe is officially a failure..." Yosuke saw Souji raise his eyebrow at him.

"Well, for most us at least."


	2. Left To Clean

"Ugh, how did we get stuck with cleaning duty?" Chie asked while taking decorations off of the classroom wall. The first day of the Culture Festival was over. Most of the students have gone home. Well, all of them except for the unlucky souls left behind to clean.

"Because it was either this or making promotional posters for the group date cafe. And we both know you can't draw very well Chie, soo..." Yukiko replied as she began cleaning off the tables, most of which weren't even used.

"What! I to can draw!" Yukiko giggled.

"No, Chie you can't. Remember when our class decided to do an art gallery for the Culture Festival, and each of us needed to draw something fo-"

"Hey! That was like three years ago! I've gotten much better, for your information." Chie said, cutting Yukiko off.

"Oh sure. I bet Leonardo Da Vinci has nothing on you now." Yukiko said, looking at Chie with a little smile on her face.

"Wait, who? Regardless, I bet I can take him down!" The pair shared a laugh. Yukiko always loved just having simple conversation with Chie. Most of the time they just talked about absolute nonsense that had nothing to do with anything, but it was always fun and relaxing. Really nice change of pace compared to all the stress and such attached with the murder case. She was one of the few people Yukiko actually felt comfortable talking to and hanging out with.

You know who also fills out that description? Souji.

Thoughts of her silver haired companion began to fill her mind. She wanted to call him right then and there and just confess her love to him, but then again, she also didn't. She wanted that moment to be special. She wanted it to be face to face. Over a phone call wouldn't be very romantic and or feel right.

But when would the perfect time come? Is there a perfect time? Why does it matter? She already know Souji is interested in her, and she was sure as hell interested in him, it should be easy.

Why was she making this so complicated?

"And hey, when did you become little miss snarkidy snark? Guess Souji is starting to rub off on you." Chie said. She then abruptly stopped what she was doing and ran to sit at the table Yukiko is cleaning, or was cleaning, now that Souji was on her mind.

"Speaking of Souji..." Chie asked with curiosity in her eyes. Yukiko's face turned scarlet, even though she knew this was coming.  
>"No, Chie I don't want to talk about this right now..."<p>

"What? Why not! Come on Yukiko. Pleeeease?" Chie asked, practically begging Yukiko to give her some dirt.

"Why do you want to talk about this so much?

"Because I'm excited for you! My best friend is about to have her first boyfriend and you haven't told me anything. Come on, spill the beans girl! I want to know what's going on!"

Yukiko chuckled. She knew Chie was right. She has been a little selfish keeping all of this to herself and trying to figure it out on her own. Chie deserved to know, considering how much dirt she has on Chie about Yosuke.

And it's in a girls nature to talk about boys, right? And maybe Chie may be able to help Yukiko figure some things out. Yukiko took a seat across from Chie.

"Fine... what do you want to know?" Chie didn't even try to her excitement. Yukiko laughed and relaxed in her seat. She started to get excited about this as well. It will be nice finally talking about this. Something that has been on her mind for months and months.

"Okay first question: How long have you liked him? And why didn't you tell me?"

"Chie, you know that's two questions right?" Chie rolled her eyes.

"Stop trying to avoid the questions!"

"Okay okay... ever since you guys rescued me from the TV and I started to get to know him, I guess I started to like him them. I even thought he was kind of cute when we first met him..."

Yukiko looked down at the table and blushed. She was probably going to be doing a lot of that during this conversation.

"Wow, you liked him this whole time? You could have told me y'know!" Chie said with a hint of sadness in her voice. She was a little offended that Yukiko didn't even bother to tell her, even after she talked to her about Yosuke. Hell, she had to figure it our herself!

Chie crossed her arms. She was actually a little upset now. Yukiko noticed the sudden change in her tone of voice, going from unabated excitement to sadness. She looked up and saw a sad, yet angry gaze from Chie. She immediately felt guilty.

"Chie... I'm sorry. I know I should have told you sooner, and I feel terrible. I just... I didn't want to make things awkward if things between me and Souji didn't work out. If it turned out he didn't feel the same way. Or if we got together and broke up. I wanted to keep this to myself. But that's not a good excuse for not telling you... I'm sorry..."

Yukiko sighed. She felt terrible knowing that it hurt Chie by not telling her. Chie, on the other hand, was the one starting to feel guilty. Even though they didn't do it very often, Chie hated it when they argued. She always ended up feeling bad and hurting Yukiko in one way or another.

"It's okay, I understand. I'm sorry for making such a big deal about it when it really doesn't matter. Do you not want to talk about it? Because I understand if you don't..."

"It's okay Chie. I want to talk about it now, and you deserve to know. Let me make it up to you. Ask me anything about Souji and I will give a honest answer."

"Are you sure?" Making Yukiko talk about such a sensitive topic out of guilt would make her feel even worse.

"I'm positive. Come on, lets have some fun." The two friends smiled at each other, putting this behind them. Chie curiosity and excitement began to reignite.

"Okay, next question then. You think he's hot or what?"

"What, don't you?" Chie looked down at the table and blushed, causing Yukiko to laugh. She was glad to see the return of the happy and friendly atmosphere the two usually shared.

"But yes, I do think he is quite hot. Now come on, ask me a good question."

"Hmm... okay, do you like him?" Yukiko rolled her eyes.

"No, Chie, I mean a GOOD question."

"Just answer it!"

"Nope, I hate him. Can't stand him." Chie believed her for a second, then she remembered this new, Souji inspired Yukiko. Not that she was complaining though, it was nice to see her shy and reserved friend get all sassy and snarky every once and awhile.

She was just hopping she could keep up.

"Oh? Well, you did say you were going to answer honestly. Hmmm... I wonder how Souji would feel if-"

"Oh fine. Duh, I like him."

"Do you loooooove him?" Now this was the type of question Yukiko expected to be asked. The really personal and embarrassing ones. Chie loved making Yukiko feel embarrassed. Another way Chie and Souji were similar.

For better or for worse.

Yukiko's face flushed and began thinking about how she would reply, considering she didn't even know the answer herself.

"Well... I-I really love spending time with him and stuff, and because of what we've gone through with the murder case we've gotten really c-close... and I really can't think of another guy that I would want to be with over him so... yes? I-I h-honestly don't know..." Yukiko buried her face into her hands in embarrassment.

"Awwwww. You're totally in love with him!" Chie could see Yukiko's face turn red as her sweater even through her hands and began laughing. Yukiko quickly joined in on the laughter.

"Yeah... I guess I am, aren't I? Gosh this is so embarrassing..."

"I know! That's why it's fun! So, what are you going to do about it?"

This was the question that usually kept Yukiko awake at night. What was she going to do about it? It was up to her now to make the next move now. And Souji even made it easier for her! She no longer needed to be sacred that he may not feel the same way. It was simple. Just tell him you like him and you're good!

"_I'm such a coward"_ Yukiko thought.

"I... don't know."

"What do you mean you don't know? He obviously really likes you! All you need to do is tell him how you feel and you two will be together forever!" Yukiko laughed, wishing it was that simple. Hey, maybe it was. Maybe Chie was right. She just needed to tell him. She was clearly thinking about this to much.

"Yeah, I guess your right."

"Damn right I am! When are you going to tell him?"

"Soon..."

"Soon? How about tomorrow, while you're putting makeup on him."

"Confessing your love to the man of your dreams while you're in the process of turning them into a girl isn't very romantic Chie." Yukiko laughed at Chie's absurd suggestion. Chie have Yukiko a funny look, not really understanding what was so funny.

"What? It's not a bad idea!"

"Oh really? Why don't you try it with Yosuke then." Yukiko said, smirking. Chie blushed, no comeback coming to mind.

"Why don't you... shut up!" Yukiko laughed.

"Good one Chie." Chie blushed even harder. Chie didn't take embarrassment as well as Yukiko did, and was frantically trying to think of a way to make Yukiko embarrassed.

"Well... this isn't about me and Yosuke! Next question: Would you have sex with Souji!"

"No, I'd rather do it with Yosuke. Much hotter." Yukiko said, giving Chie an innocent smile and tilted her head a bit. Chie groaned and laid her head on the table. Yukiko went into hysterical laughter. There was no way Chie could keep up with her.

"Maybe we should just go back to cleaning..."

"No no no I'm sorry. I'll stop being such a jerk now and answer your questions." Yukiko said in between bursts of laughter.

"Well, answer the one I just asked." Yukiko sighed and blushed. Chie asked it to make her embarrassed, and now that Yukiko began thinking about it and how to answer, instead of trying to think of something cutting and witty to say, boy did it work.

"Maybe you're right, we should get back to cleaning..." The two laughed.

"Fine, why don't you answer the question I asked earlier: When are you going to tell him?"

When would be a good time to tell him, she wondered. She didn't want him to get the impression that she wasn't interested by waiting to long to tell him. Maybe tomorrow wasn't a bad idea after all. And she was trying to get permission to have everyone come over for a sleepover tomorrow...

"I'm doing it tomorrow. I've got an idea."

"Oh, so you're going to do the makeup thing?"

"No, my idea's isn't terrible like yours." Yukiko said and laughed. Chie stuck her tongue out at her.

"But okay, listen..."

**AN: First off, thank you to everyone that reviewed! Much better response then I thought I would get, since after proof reading the first chapter I thought "Crap, this is terrible!" But thankfully, I was proven wrong! Barley got any Yukiko action last chapter, so decided to just go all in with Yukiko this chapter. Interested to see how this one is received, since I also feel very antsy about this one. Very different then the first one I think. **


	3. He's In There

"Why're you guys just standing there? Come on, hurry up and sit down." Chie said. It was the second day of the school's Culture Festival. The "Miss" Yasogami Beauty pageant was going to start in about hour, and it was time for its contestants to get ready. Souji heard deep sighs from his two opponents next to him.

"This is going to be fun." He whispered to Yosuke.

"Yeah, only because the chick you're interested in is going to touch your face a lot."

"C'mon Kanji-kun. Over here!" Rise said, slapping the seat in front of her. Souji looked at Yosuke and smirked.

"Well, yeah. And don't forget, so is yours." Souji said, and moved to his place in front of Yukiko, Yosuke and Kanji quickly following. Yukiko had many make-up instruments and utilities placed on a desk in front of her. Most of which, he had no idea what they were called or even did. Yukiko noticed Souji's confusion as he examined her make-up tools.

"Don't worry, I won't hurt you."

"_Yukiko, I want you to hurt me if you know what I'm saying."_ Souji thought and immediately felt weird for thinking that. Not that he didn't enjoy some dirty jokes, I mean hey, he WAS a teenage guy. But thinking about Yukiko in that way made him feel weird. Not weird in THAT way, or weird in a way that meant he didn't want to do that stuff with Yukiko but...

He then quickly decided to drop that train of thought. He mentally sighed. He was in a weird mood in general. But hey, in about a hour he was about to cross-dress in front of the whole school in a competition that he intended on winning, so no wonder.

Souji raised an accusing eyebrow at Yukiko, causing her to chuckle and blush a little.

"_Guess she was thinking dirty was well. Geez, my bad influence is probably to blame, isn't I?" _Souji thought.

"What about me? It turns out I'm entering this too. I must win this contest!" Teddie asked.

"You think you're going to win? Ha! Not if me and Yukiko have something to say about it!" Souji said proudly. Yukiko laughed, while everyone else just gave him weird looks.

"Ugh, he's really getting into this, isn't he?" Yosuke said.

"Why is Teddie here again?" Chie asked.

"He seemed bored, so we signed him up as a last-minute contestant." Yosuke said.

"So you're making him suffer too, huh...? Well, if he's been signed up, there's nothing we can do about it. Naoto-kun, can you lend us a hand? We'll leave Teddie to you." Chie said. Souji walked to the other side of the desk to talk some game-plan with Yukiko.

"Okay, Teddie is working with Naoto, so we don't need to worry about him. He already lost, since I doubt Naoto would know anything about make-up, and better yet, I doubt Naoto would know much about being a girl as well." Souji whispered to Yukiko. She began laughing hysterically. It was time for her to receive the weird looks.

"You're so mean" Yukiko whispered back.

"This is fierce competition here! No mercy! No holding back! You, my lady, need to get in the fighting spirite." Yukiko chuckled once again. It was a side most people haven't seen of Souji, this insane, crazy, and snarky version of Souji. A Souji that she loved.

Hell, she loved every kind of Souji. The strong leader that always kept his cool Souji? Yup, loved him.

The focused, determined, sword in hand ready to kill some shadows Souji? Loved him. That Souji was even a little more cuter then the rest. She loved how the glasses looked on him.

The sweet and sensitive Souji that was always willing to listen and offer advice? She extra loved that Souji, since that one helped her go through so much. If it wasn't for that Souji, she may have already made the worst decision in her life and left town by now.

She looked at Souji and noticed he was giving her a very cute smile. Yukiko smiled back, which only seemed to make his smile bigger. She blushed slightly and began to think of a response.

Souji was clearly having a lot of fun with this messed up situation. She never would have imagined someone would be so excited about cross-dressing, even though she was sure he was just being ironic. But what if he was being serious about this? Yukiko couldn't decide whether that would be a good thing, or a really bad thing.

Either way though, she loved it. She decided to go with it and play along.

"Well, Naoto does know a thing or two about cross-dressing..." She whispered to Souji. The two laughed. One of the things Souji loved about Yukiko: her willingness to just go along with his stupid and crazy bullcrap.

"Crap, you're right! I haven't even considered that. Now they have the advantage! This is all your fault!"

"My fault? How is this my fault?"

"If you cross-dressed more I'm sure we would win."

"Cross-dressed more? Are you saying I've cross-dressed before?"

"Well, I don't know what weird elicit things you do during your off time..." Yukiko rolled her eyes.

"Look who's talking! You're the one so excited about being able to cross-dress." Souji stayed silent for a couple seconds, trying to think of a comeback. Yukiko smirked at him, quite pleased with herself.

"Shut up." The pair laughed. Souji always found a way to make conversation turn into stupid absurdity that relied on trying to be wittier then the other person. This was quite jarring when Yukiko first experienced it. But it wasn't off-putting, and she found it fun. Since they seemed to hang out almost everyday she was available, she quickly adapted. She was actually pretty proud of herself that she was able to beat him this time.

"So, you want me to start dressing like a guy after today so we can be prepared for next year?" Yukiko said.

This is what Souji was waiting for. A chance to be a little flirty and see how she would react. He was still waiting for her answer from yesterday, and he wanted to find out how she felt as fast as he can. And making Yukiko blush was one his favorite things, right next to looking up cute cat pictures on the Internet.

Hey, he had a soft spot for cute things.

"Naw, don't. I really like the way you dress now, actually. You always look so beautiful." Souji mentally sighed. Wasn't his best stuff and was pretty corny, but it didn't take much to make Yukiko embarrassed anyway. And sure enough, she blushed.

Even though it was just simple compliment, it was always tough for Yukiko to keep her composure whenever Souji said something flirty to her. Being one of the most popular girls in the school, she has heard her fair share of flirts before, but she usually just shrugged it off and wished to be left alone. She had no intention of getting "involved" with boys any time soon.

Oh, how times have changed.

"Oh... r-really? T-Thanks. You're such a sweetheart..." Yukiko said, hoping her first attempt at flirting wasn't TO terrible. The two met eyes and smiled at each other.

She then noticed just how close the two of them were standing. They were standing shoulder to shoulder and were leaning into each other. Their faces only a couple of inches apart, since they were whispering to each other. It took a lot of willpower for her to not just rest her head on his broad and nice shoulders, or wrap her arms around his muscular torso, or place her lips on his juicy looking ones...

Yukiko blushed instantly and looked down at the floor, quickly shoving those thoughts out of her mind. She needed to keep to the plan. Although, it was going to difficult to even look at Souji now...

Souji had other plans. He had her right where he wanted her. She basically gave him the go ahead, and he was going to take it. He was going in. He wrapped one of his arms around her shoulder which seemed to startle her at first, but she relaxed and even leaned into him.

As much Yukiko tried, she couldn't resist, and rested her head on his shoulder, wrapping one of her arms around his back. She felt Souji's head rest against hers.

"Can I ask you something?" Souji asked.

"_Dude, he is IN THERE!"_ Yosuke thought as he observed the two. He tried to listen in on their conversation, but Kanji's and Rise's yelling about choice of make-up maade it difficult to hear them. He did feel a little creepy invading their personal privacy though, but they were in the middle of a classroom with multiple people in it for lord's sake. Pretty hard to miss.

As much crap the two of them gave each other, Yosuke was really happy for Souji that he finally made his move and did something about his feelings for Yukiko. Knowing how well it seemed to work out for him, it may even inspire him to do the same...

He looked at Chie and noticed she also was watching Souji and Yukiko. She didn't look to happy about it though.

"_Bet she's getting jealous of Souji."_ Yosuke thought and snickered. "_Or... what if she's getting jealous of Yukiko?"_ If Souji got with both Yukiko AND Chie, he would have to kill him. "_Asshole gets all the ladies. Hell! Get Rise while you're at it! Jerk!"_ Yosuke sighed. He needed to make a move on Chie, and fast.

"You can ask me anything, Souji." Yukiko said, her voice much softer then usual. She lifted her head from his shoulder and turned her face toward him. Their noses were about an inch away from touching. Yukiko was blushing like crazy, but didn't bother to hide it. She could even see a little pink tint on Souji's cheeks.

"_Crap! What is Yukiko doing? She can't get with him now! It's going to mess up the plan!"_ Chie thought. She moved closer so she could hear the two of them better, since the the both of them seemed to be completely oblivious to their surroundings.

"You never did answer my question from yesterday. Do you like any of the guys from the group date cafe? Male class rep has been dying to know." Yukiko chuckled. She was about to be living out her dream! All she needed to do was lean in for a kiss and she would be good! She would save all the cheesy and sappy things she needed to tell him for later, when they were alone.

She knew she had a perfectly planned out scheme for later, but she couldn't wait that long. She wanted him now!

"Actually, about that..." Yukiko repositioned herself so she was right in front of him. She felt Souji wrap his arms around her waits. She rested her hands on his shoulders and felt Souji's hands caressing her back.

"I do, in fact, like one o-"

"HEY! The pageant starts in 40 minutes and Souji doesn't even have any make-up on him yet!" Chie yelled, startling everyone in the room. Everyone in the room began to stare at her, and because she was right next to Souji and Yukiko in a rather intimate position, everyone noticed them as well. The two quickly separated, both red in the face. It was either because both of them were extremely embarrassed, or extremely angry at Chie. It would easy to believe it was the latter, but it was a mixture of the two.

Yukiko sighed and began to organize her make-up utilities on the desk. As much as she wanted to hate Chie right now, she knew she was going to get another chance later. It was probably for the best even, since her plan was much more romantic and sentimental then this classroom affair was.

Souji wasn't taking it as well as Yukiko did, since he didn't have another plan. He glared at Chie and sat down in a seat, preparing himself to be turned into a lady. Souji knew it was going to be really awkward now between him and Yukiko, since she was going to be touching his face a lot.

Which at the beginning of the day, was actually the thing he was looking forward to the most.

Yosuke noticed just how angry Souji looked. This was probably the first time he saw Souji let his emotions get the best of him.

"You ready to start?" Chie asked him. He also had no make-up on him, since both of them were to busy eavesdropping on Yukiko and Souji. Yosuke dragged Chie to the other side of the room, so everyone else wouldn't hear them.

"What the hell was that Chie? You just cock blocked Souji!" Yosuke said angryly.

"Hey, settle down! Don't worry, Yukiko has something planned out for later." Chie replied. She found it kind of cute just how angry Yosuke got in defense for Souji. Yosuke sighed and calmed down. Chie chuckled.

"You really want him to get with Yukiko, don't ya?"

"Well, yeah, of course. It's what Souji's been wanting for months, and I uh... need him to succeed. Inspire me a little."

"Inspire you?"

"Um, nevermind. You'll understand later."


	4. A Nice, Firm Rack

"Yosuke, your hair is a complete mess. Let me fix it fo-"

"Don't touch me!" Yosuke protested, slapping away Souji's hands before they could wreck too much havoc on his already messed up hair and ponytail. Souji, Kanji, and Teddie shared a laugh while Yosuke rushed to the mirror and tried to adjust his hair. The "Miss" Yasogami Pageant was moments away from starting, and the contestants were in a room backstage relaxing, waiting for it to start. "Relaxing" being a loose term for Yosuke, as he was dreading the fact that he will soon be humiliated in front of the whole school. Everyone else was feeling mostly fine. Souji, in particular, was excited about this ordeal. The fact that the killer was still at large has been taxing on Souji mentally, and he'd gladly accept any distractions to keep his mind off things. He also just loved the idea of a crossdressing pageant, because it was incredibly ridiculous. Though, he never imagined he'd ever partake in one himself. But it's not like he, nor any of the other contestants, can do anything about it, so he decided to just to make the best of it and have some fun.

And making fun of Yosuke is one of the ways he was going to "make the best of it and have some fun."

"Hey, I'm just trying to help! You don't look too hot right now, and because I'm a bro, I'm going to give you some advice. Now, first off, pull your damn skirt down. Where is your sense of shame, man?" Souji said. The group once again shared a laugh.

"Oh shut up, I already know I look stupid. I can't believe we got roped into this… this is going to be so embarrassing…" Yosuke said, taking a seat on a nearby chair and putting his head in his hands.

"You may look stupid, but I'm looking and feeling pretty. Even a manly man like me likes to feel pretty every once in awhile." Kanji commented. Yosuke looked up and gave Kanji a "are you crazy?" look.

"Yeah, you're looking good, Kanji." Souji said, holding in a laugh. In reality, Souji thought Kanji looked just, if not more, ridiculous them Yosuke. It was easy to tell that Rise really had her way with Kanji, and Chie didn't really know what she was doing with Yosuke. Souji and Yukiko, though, made quite the team. Together, they turned Souji into a rather fine looking young lady. There were some arguments over Souji's fake boob size, though. Souji would exclaim things like: "I need double D's if I want to win this thing, Yukiko!" Yukiko would laugh at his ridiculousness, but still forced Souji to settle with a more modest size. Souji looked down at his fake breasts, and while he wished he had two torpedoes shooting out from his chest, because that is clearly attractive, he was still fairly satisfied.

Souji examined his competition, trying to figure out what his chances of winning were. Yosuke and Kanji had no chance, that he was sure of. Teddie, on the other hand, was looking like a fine young lady himself.

"You're looking really good yourself, Teddie." Souji complimented.

"Thanks Sensei! Naoto-chan really knew what she was doing! I bear-ly recognized myself when I looked in the mirror!" Teddie proudly exclaimed, proud of both his looks and his pun.

Souji figured with Naoto's help and experience with crossdressing, Teddie would be the only real competition. He was still confident he would win, as he had quite the reputation in Yasogami High. This reputation could be compromised with this pageant, though. While Souji was going to have as much fun as he can with this, he knew he was going to be humiliated in front of the whole school. All of those girls with crushes on him may start having second thoughts after this, but it's not like he cared. He wasn't out to impress. And the girl he would want to impress already gave him her approval and support.

But more importantly, Teddie's bust size was nothing compared to Souji's. This is what was going to be deciding factor which would ultimately lead to Souji winning. Teddie's fake boobs were almost

nonexistent, while Souji had a nice, firm rack. He was sure he would win the audience's favor.

But what if the audience members were the type of people who liked more modest size boobs? Souji figured there was no use trying to impress those people, as they were clearly crazy. If they were to prefer Teddie's preteen boobs over his adult, mature boobs than they are pedophiles, and Souji wouldn't want their favor anyway.

Yosuke watched Souji as he intensely stared at Teddie's chest. Souji would occasionally stop gawking at Teddie's breasts and look down at his own, comparing and contrasting.

"Souji, why are you staring at Teddie's…?" Souji was instantly taken aback, finally coming back to reality and realizing that he was eye groping Teddie's chest. Souji quickly averted his eyes and took a seat on a nearby chair. He deeply sighed, not knowing if he was ever going to be able to come to terms with this.

Souji suddenly really wanted to be done with this pageant, because it was making him crazy and putting him in a weird place.

Yosuke started feeling a little self-conscious about his own fake bust size. He quickly stopped caring, as he realized he didn't want to do down that dark path.

"I don't know what you are talking about." Souji replied. Yosuke gave Souji an accusing look, while Teddie just looked back and forth between the two in confusion.

The door to the backstage room began to open, and in came a male student with a huge pink afro wig on. Souji recognized the student, as he was going to be the MC for the pageant. Right as he entered the room, be burst out laughing at the sight of the contestants.

"Oh my gosh, you guys look freaking stupid. You guys are freaks for signing up for this." The student said in between fits of laughter. He was laughing like Yukiko when she was one of her infamous laughing fits. Souji thought Yukiko's laughing fits were incredibly cute, but this guys laugh just made Souji want to punch him.

"You think we wanted to do this? Hell no! Someone else signed us up!" Yosuke said defensively. And while that was true, the MC didn't seem to believe it.

"Yeah right! I bet you guys were ecstatic when you heard the news that we were having the crossdressing pageant again. Signed up as quick as you could!" The student said, once again going into fits of laughter. Souji deeply sighed, but was not going to let himself be provoked by this asshole. It was apparent that Yosuke and Kanji were getting really agitated.

"I can't wait for the pageant! I did sign myself up!" Teddie said, completely oblivious to the fact that this guy was making fun of him. There was more laughter from the student. Souji balled his hands up into fists, but he relaxed himself and let his fingers spread. He wasn't going to be the one to deal with this funky student wannabe.

_"You ain't no riddle brother."_ Souji said to himself.

"Wow! You're such a queer! Speaking of queers…" The MC turned to Kanji, "I heard a rumor about you, Kanji. I guess you being in this pageant confir-" Kanji grabbed him by his collar and pushed him against a wall before he could finish. Souji usually would stop Kanji before he made things violent, but he let things slide this time. The guy deserved it.

"First off, those rumors aren't true," Kanji started in a low, gravelly voice, "Two, no one makes fun of my friend Teddie. And three, I don't think you want to go on stage with a black eye and a bloody nose, now do you? So you should shut the hell up and get out!" Kanji threatened, now full on yelling at the MC. The student was now cowering in fear. Souji smirked.

_"Why aren't you laughing anymore, hmm?"_ Souji thought. Souji was actually going to be the one laughing soon, because watching Kanji be all tough while being crossdressing was quite the ridiculous sight.

Kanji released the student from his grasp, and the student quickly made way for the door and left. Kanji smirked. Souji put his hand up for a high five and Kanji gladly slapped it.

—

"Geez, this is quite the crowd." Chie said, baffled by the amount of people who showed up for the crossdressing pageant. Chie, Yukiko, Rise and Naoto, along with everyone else in the auditorium, were waiting for the pageant to start.

"Yeah, last year the crowd wasn't nearly this big." Yukiko commented. She wasn't surprised this years crowd was much bigger, as Souji seemed to draw in a crowd. She was begrudgingly familiar with Souji's popularity among the female students, which lead to many jealous moments from Yukiko. While she wasn't the type to show off, she couldn't wait to walk through the halls of Yasogami High with Souji, hand in hand, and let all of the girls see that he's taken so they would stop flirting with him.

Soon, Yukiko told herself. If everything goes as planned, that day will be soon.

"Well, good! I hope everyone makes fun of Yosuke after this, because he deserves it. It's what he gets for signing us up for the beauty pageant." Chie said coarsely. While Yukiko did agree Yosuke deserved some kind of punishment, she did think signing the guys up for the crossdressing pageant was a bit of an extreme. Wouldn't a good ol' kick to nads be enough for Yosuke?

"Isn't that a bit harsh?" Yukiko asked. She knew a fair amount of these girls were here to see Souji, and she wondered how this would affect his reputation. She just realized that he would be humiliated in front of all of these people, and she began to feel bad for taking part in signing him up. Yosuke should be the one who is punished. Did they really need to rope in Souji and the other guys into this, too?

"Well…" Chie started, but was interrupted by applause as the MC of the event entered the stage. The pageant was about to begin.

"Ladies and gentlemen! We now begin the second day of Culture Festival with the ever-popular "Miss" Yasogami Pageant! Let's get right down to it and introduce our first contestant!" The MC announced. Yukiko felt a knot develop in her stomach.

_"Hopefully this doesn't go too bad..."_ Yukiko thought.

"She's a runaway express trail who's Inaba born and bred, and can kill with her fists and her looks! Presenting Kanji-chan of the first-year Class 3!" And moments later, Kanji would walk on stage and the crowd would erupt with laughter. Yukiko noticed the MC was laughing along with the crowd, but with one stern look from Kanji he would flinch and tense up.

"'Sup!" Kanji said, not even trying to put on a girl voice. The crowd would once again laugh, and Yukiko couldn't stop herself from laughing herself. While she thought the guys didn't deserve this, she had to admit this was outrageous. And if being around Souji taught her anything, it seemed she was a fan of outrageous.

The crowd burst with responses:

"Gyaaaaaah!"

"Ewww! That's so creepy!"

"This is wrong on every level…"

It was apparent that the crowd was disgusted by Kanji's appearance.

"Why is everyone making fun of him? Kanji's looks good!" Rise said, surprised by the audience response. She was actually very proud of the work she did with Kanji.

"You really think he looks good, Rise-chan?" Chie asked, wondering if Souji got to Rise too and she was just being sarcastic, or if she actually thought Kanji looked good. She assumed the former, as Kanji did look pretty absurd.

"Yeah, of course! I made sure Kanji looked pretty, just like he wanted. It took a bit of work, but nothing Rise Kujikawa couldn't handle!" Rise said proudly. Chie shared a look with Yukiko, and they both chuckled.

"Sorry Rise-chan, but… Kanji does look pretty stupid." Chie said. Rise stuck her tongue out at the girls and pouted. How dare these girls mock Kanji, as he undoubtedly was looking amazing! His make-up and clothes were done and picked by the famous Risette! And if there was one person who knew about fashion and looking good, it was her! The people here were clearly out of touch and knew nothing about fashion, or hell, she bet the people here don't knew nothing about looking good!

Rise crossed her arms and pouted even more. Naoto noticed Rise was upset by the crowds reaction, and tried to console her.

"You're right Rise-chan, Kanji-kun does look pretty good." Naoto told her, trying to sound convincing so she would believe her. Rise smiled at her. It was nice knowing that at least SOMEONE in this school can appreciate beauty and good fashion when they see it, and it was fitting Naoto would be the one. She was the one who had a rather stylish fashion sense, with her blue motif and cool blue cap.

She also couldn't wait to tell Kanji about what Naoto said about him.

Kanji, like Rise, was surprised by the audience response. As the audience would laugh at him, he would look around at them in befuddlement. Like Rise, he was proud of how he looked, and somewhere in the back of his mind, he really wanted to win.

_"Tch... I'm looking good. I don't care what these people think._" He thought, not letting himself be rebuffed by the audience's disapproval.

"Now, don't rip me for apart for asking, but… What would you say is you best feature?" The MC asked Kanji. It was evident that the MC was afraid of Kanji, as he was very reluctant to ask Kanji any questions.

"… My eyes?" Kanji replied. Backstage, Souji was losing it. He did have to give Kanji props for playing it straight. Yosuke was too busy freaking out to even pay attention to what was happening on stage.

"They're laughing and making fun of him! That's going to be us soon!" Yosuke said in distress. Souji, admittedly, was starting to get cold feet himself. The whole school was going to be laughing at him soon, and it's harder to shrug your shoulders and say "Eh, I don't care! Let's have some fun with this!" right now than it was before.

"It won't be that bad." Souji said, trying to reassure Yosuke. Though, he was almost saying it more to himself than to Yosuke. Yosuke shook his head and began pacing around.

"We're going to be laughing stocks! How will we recover from this, both socially and mentally!" Yosuke cried. Before, Souji would get a laugh from Yosuke's overreaction, but Yosuke did have a point. They were going to be mocked by their fellow classmates for a while after this. And with his previous experience with MC not too long ago, he knew he wasn't going to enjoy it very much.

But, in traditional Souji Seta fashion, he decided to play it off as a joke instead of worrying about it too much.

"I don't know what you're talking about. The chicks here love crossdressers. I mean, a lot of them were still into Naoto even after it was revealed she was a crossdresser." Souji said. Yosuke chuckled lightly, but it was still clear he was in distress.

"Wait, they do? Awesome! So many girls already love me, but I could always use some more." Teddie said. Yosuke sighed in disapproval, but Souji laughed. Souji always appreciated when Teddie would pimp it up, as long as the girls he was working on weren't Yukiko.

Souji was really starting to feel the anxiety himself, even if he was doing what he can to fight it off. He sought for some comfort while Yosuke was being introduced, and took his phone out of his skirt pocket and dialed Yukiko's number.

"Presenting Yosuke-chan of the second-year Class 2!" The MC announced. Instead of going onstage to face impending embarrassment and harassment, Yosuke stayed backstage, frozen in place.

"Hey, uh, dude. That's your prompt. Go! You've got this!" Souji said, trying to encourage him onstage. Yosuke shook his head and began walking toward the back exit of the stage.

"No! I can't do this! I'm not going to scared like this! NOPE!" Yosuke protested. Yukiko answered the phone as Souji grabbed Yosuke by the arm, stopping him from getting to the exit.

"Hello?"

"Oh, hey! Can you give me a second?" Souji replied, as he dragged Yosuke to the entrance of the stage. Yosuke struggled to break free so he could escape this terror, but Souji proved to be too much, even if he was using one hand to hold up a phone to his ear.

"Who are you talking to?" Chie asked Yukiko, once she noticed she was on the phone.

"Souji."

"Ooooooh. Souji-kun, hmm? You don't even put a honorific on his name. How cute." Chie teased, raising her eyebrows at her in a suggestive and accusing way. Yukiko rolled her eyes, but couldn't stop herself from blushing. She turned away from Chie, because she knew if Chie saw her blushing, she'd never hear the end of it.

"Stop being a coward! You shouldn't worry about it, dude. You look beautiful. Now go!" Yukiko heard Souji say into the phone. She was initially met with confusion. Was he talking to her? It was nice that he was calling her beautiful, but she wasn't going anywhere.

But when Yosuke stumbled on stage, almost losing his balance and falling, she laughed, connecting the dots and figuring out what happened backstage. Her laugh was almost in unison with the laughter of the rest of the audience, as they laughed at Yosuke's ridiculous appearance.

"Okay, back! So, hey!" Souji said.

"Hey." Yukiko replied.

"What's up?"

Yukiko chuckled, as the roar of laughter from the audience made it pretty apparent what was up.

"Oh, you know, crossdressing pageant."

"Ah, how is that?"

Yosuke kept his head down as he got to his spot on stage. He took in a deep breath before looking up at the crowd and belting out, in his high pitched girly voice,

"H-Hi!"

The crowd once again erupted with laughter. Souji could hear Yukiko's laugh in particular through the phone, and listening to her totally lose it seemed to ease Souji's anxious mind a bit.

"It's been going exceptionally well!" Yukiko said after recovering.

"I'm totally going to win this thing."

"Oh, I know you will! I don't see how can lose, especially considering your competition."

"Ha, I guess you're right. Though, Teddie is looking pretty hot back here." Souji said, as he watched Teddie fix is hair in the mirror. Ever since Teddie heard the girls loved the crossdressers, Teddie was spending all of the time he could in front of the mirror.

_"Guess it inspired him."_ Souji thought.

"Yeah, so? You look way hotter." Yukiko replied, giggling. Souji laughed along with her. While interacting with Yukiko always seemed to work as a great stress reliever, he couldn't stop the knot in his stomach grow as he heard the audience members rough disapproval of Yosuke's outfit and look.

"Holy crap!"

"And here I thought Yosuke-senpai would be able to pull it off!"

"Dude, it's terrifying… I can just imagine someone like him sitting across from me on a train!"

"Yosuke-senpai doesn't look that good either, Chie-senpai." Rise commented, remembering Chie's previous remarks about Kanji's looks.

"_How could she berate Kanji's looks when she barely did anything with Yosuke! I worked with Kanji days in advance to make sure his look was perfect! I made sure to get the best make-up products that went well with his skin tone! I spent forever getting his hair just right! I let him use my earrings! We bought high heels that were his size! He even sewed the dress! And all Chie does is put him in a skirt and improperly put mascara on him? A disgrace! And she has the nerve to berate Kanji's looks!"_ Rise said to herself.

"Yeah, that was the point." Chie replied, chuckling. Rise shook her head, not pleased with that response. Those weren't the fighting words she was look for. She sighed and shrugged it off. She couldn't help it if she was really competitive.

All Yosuke could do was look down at his feet in shame. Souji watched from backstage, and shook his head in sympathy. While it was Yosuke's fault for getting him and the rest of the guys into this mess, he couldn't help but feel that Yosuke didn't deserve this. Yeah, he looked like a cheap hooker, but still…

"I'm glad to have your support, but… to be serious, I'm pretty terrified right now. This whole thing is a disaster. I'm going to be humiliated." Souji said, his voice becoming much darker and serious. Yukiko instantly noticed the change in tone, and her previous anxiety about whether or not the guys deserved this came back to hit her like a truck. The fact that Souji became genuinely concerned about how this would go instead of being droll and going along with it only made her feel worse.

"You won't be humiliated, because the crowd will love you! You may not have the torpedoes that you wanted, but you still look astounding!" Yukiko said in a last ditch effort to keep things light-hearted and bring up Souji's spirits, but was rebuffed when she didn't get an immediate reassuring reaction from Souji.

"But, to be serious, you don't look that ridiculous, so you shouldn't have it too bad. Hopefully." Yukiko said, in an attempt to reassure Souji, and even an attempt to reassure herself. She wanted to believe this wouldn't go bad for him, so she wouldn't feel bad. But even she had a hard time believing it.

"Yeah, I guess…" Souji replied dejectedly. Souji didn't want to be like this, because he knew Yukiko was trying to keep him in high spirits, and while she was helping, he just couldn't stop himself.

"I'm sorry…" Yukiko said, her own voice becoming a bit dejected.

"Huh? Sorry for what?" Souji replied, confused.

"I should have stopped Chie from signing you guys up. You didn't even do anything. You don't deserved to be mocked and humiliated like this…" Yukiko said. Souji mentally sighed. He felt like crap for making Yukiko feel bad when she did nothing wrong.

"Now, you look ready to win in that outfit… Do you often dress like this?" The MC asked Yosuke. Yosuke could see a mocking smirk written all over the MC's face.

"_Asshole is really enjoying this, isn't he?"_ Yosuke thought.

"Hell no!" Yosuke retorted, losing the girl voice. He then recognized his wrongdoings, and quicky fixed them.

"_May as well go all the way with it… right? Right._" Yosuke thought, wanting to mimic Souji's "let's have some fun with this" philosophy.

"Uh… Like, no way!" He reiterated, tacking on the girl voice once again. Souji laughed, giving Yosuke props for dedicating to the girl voice.

Yosuke looked offstage to Souji and shrugged, also giving him a very noncommittal thumbs up while the crowd was laughing at his use of the girl voice. Sure, they probably laughing at him, but he got them laughing at least. Souji gave him a reassuring thumbs up and laughed. He was glad Yosuke finally started seeing his way of things, and just went for it, even if it was stupid.

And if Yosuke could do it, he sure as hell could too. He felt the grief leave him, and back came the usual Souji.

"Hey, don't feel bad. I'm glad you didn't stop Chie from signing us up. While I'm convinced you tried to stab my eye out with that eyeliner, it's been crazy and fun! I've always wanted an excuse to wear lady clothes, and god damn are they soft." Souji said to Yukiko, as it seemed it was his turn to try to lighten up the conversation and reassure Yukiko. Yukiko noticed that Souji's was back to his normally jokey tone, and felt a little better.

"Really? You're not mad or upset anything… right?" Yukiko asked. While she was glad Souji no longer seemed down, she fully recognized that he could just be acting like this so she wouldn't feel bad or worry. She knew he did this when everyone would talk about the murders. He would notice everyone was really concerned about the situation, and he would do what he could to keep the mood up when in reality, he was more stressed than any of us, as he was the leader, and people's lives were in his hands. He used jokes as a defense mechanism, and it was sometimes hard for her differentiate between when he was being genuinely happy and when he was putting on an act.

"No, not at all. Me be mad at you? That's blasphemy. You've made being in Inaba the time of my life. I couldn't be mad at you even if I wanted to." Souji said. He smiled, proud that this flirting attempt wasn't as horrendous as his previous one. It was still bad, sure, but he knew Yukiko was going to be embarrassed and blush regardless of the quality of his flirts. And sure enough, Yukiko gave a stuttery, flustered response.

"O-Oh? Yeah… I-I would say because of the murders, and, um… you… this year has been the time of my life too." Yukiko said softly. Chie looked over at her best friend and noticed she was blushing.

"What are you all embarrassed about? Is it because you know who is about to come up?" Chie teased, as Souji was being introduced.

"Presenting our transfer student who's been breaking hearts in the second-year Class 2, Souji-chan!" The MC announced. There was an anticipatory silence from the audience and moments passed without Souji entering the stage. Souji didn't hear his introduction, as his head was up in the clouds contemplating the possible implications of what Yukiko just said.

"_I've made it the time of her life? She must like me. Or, well… she could just mean that in a "oh my gosh Souji you're like my best friend now!" Kind of way. She's not like Rise, so we wouldn't say it like that, but… that would be the worst._" Souji thought.

"Uh, hey! You're supposed to be on stage!" Yukiko exclaimed into the phone.

"Huh? What?" Souji replied, dumbfounded.

"The MC introduced you already! Go on stage!" Yukiko replied, giggling. It seemed the two of them got so caught up in their phone conversation that they forgot Souji was suppose to be on stage right after Yosuke. She was surprised to hear Souji be introduced so quickly. She doesn't even remember Yosuke giving an interview.

"Oh crap! Talk to you later!" Souji said, hastily hanging up and putting his phone in his pocket. After one quick adjustment to his fake boobs, he walked onstage.

—

AN: Yeah, sorry. This will get finished. I'm sure this chapter is very different because, frankly, it's been a year since I've updated this thing, and my abilities as a writer have changed since the last time I've actively worked on this fic. I apologize for inconsistencies.


	5. Rumors Get Around

"N-No more!"

"Senpai! Why are you doing this!"

"Woah… I thought he was cooler than that…"

Souji smirked.

"What? Why aren't my fake boobs working! I guess I understand why girls wouldn't be into it, because they are clearly jealous. They wish they could have boobs like me. But the dudes! This is a substantial pair of fake boobs I'm rolling with here! The fidelity of these things are unprecedented! They should be all over me! I mean, even I am all over me!" Souji thought, struggling to not burst out laughing in front of the entire audience. He loved letting his mind run rampant with absurd stupidity. His concerns about being mocked and humiliated were long gone. He was even quite pleased with the response from the audience. It was more cries of heartbreak and despair from the female students and less eruption of laughter, which he welcomed. If a girl couldn't can't appreciate the utter hotness of a female Souji Seta, then, well, that was their problem, and he wouldn't want to be with them anyway. Though, he didn't blame the girls for reacting the way they did. He knew was quite popular among the female student body, and he was sure this was a heartbreaking moment for most of them. Unlike what he told Yosuke, he was pretty sure the girls here weren't into dudes who cross dress. That was fine. Souji knew of one lady in the audience who was still into him even after he crossdressed. He smiled at the thought of Yukiko, and scoured the audience to find her.

"Dammit, Yukiko gets the boys attention with her boobs, why can't I? I bet I even have a better rack than her..." Souji would, as he did with Teddie, stare at Yukiko's boobs for a little while and then look down at his own, comparing and contrasting. While he had to admit Yukiko's boobs had a bit of an edge over his, because, well, her's were actually real, he thought they were pretty comparable. He figured that having fake boobs that could compete with real ones was quite the feat. He understood why she had all the boys attention, though. While hers were more modestly sized than his, they were much rounder and-

"Ugh, I'm a horrible pervert."

Souji quickly shoved those thoughts out of his mind. He didn't want to go down that down that dark path right now. And frankly, it also just wasn't true. Yukiko got the boys attention by being beautiful in general, not only because of her boobs. She would then win their hearts by being a ridiculously wonderful, intelligent, caring, and funny person to be around. That's how she won him over, anyway.

Souji had to admit he was still reeling from hearing that he's one of the reasons it's been the "time of my life" for Yukiko. As much as he wanted to believe she meant it in a romantic, flirty way, he couldn't be too sure. He was going to find out soon, though. Ever since the group date cafe, he's been done pussyfooting around with Yukiko. He's been afraid to confess to Yukiko for far too long. Sure, he kind of hinted that he was interested in her during the group date, but he didn't go far enough. He needed to tell her just how much she meant to him, and finally find out if she had similar feelings toward him.

Maybe there was something about being dressed in lady clothes in front of the entire school that jostled something in his brain that gave him the courage to finally do this. Maybe this crossdressing stuff was the last Souji's sanity could take, and he was finally going insane, which gave him some sort of pseudo courage. Regardless, he was convinced he's never been this determined to do something in his life.

"Ugh! What a freak!" Yukiko heard a nasally voice not too far behind her. She turned to identify the voice, and found that it was Hanako talking to some of her friends. While Yukiko didn't love hearing the occasional snide remark about Souji, she did what she could to not be bothered by it. She turned away and focused her attention to the stage. Souji, in particular. It reassured her that Souji seemed to be enjoying himself up on stage, which put her mind at ease. If he was not going to care and just have some fun, so would she.

She would notice Souji was just smiling and looking at her. She was more then happy to respond with a smile of her own, but was curious why Souji was acting this way.

"Souji's just looking and smiling at me," Yukiko said to Chie, "…why?" Chie chuckled.

"He does that all the time." Yukiko gave Chie a bewildered look.

"Does he?"

"Uhuh! And you want to know why? It's because he looooves you." Chie laughed as she saw Yukiko's face turn scarlet. While Chie loved teasing her best friend, she couldn't help feeling a bit jealous. Not that she wanted to be with Souji, but rather, Yukiko was going to be with the guy of her dreams soon, while Chie wasn't. Chie mentally sighed, but instantly started feeling bad. This was an exciting time for her two friends. It wasn't the time for jealousy or envy.

"They look like abominations," Hanako said to her friends, "Souji-kun is up there smiling and stuff, enjoying himself. What a gay creep. I used to think he was cute, but not anymore. I wouldn't even want to be seen with that fag. I doubt any girl would." Hanako and her group of friends laughed. Hanako's loud, nasally voice was hard to miss, so everyone in the surrounding area heard her, even if they didn't want to. While some girls didn't love seeing their crush and senpai on stage like this, many of them agreed Hanako was taking it too far.

"What's with Hanako-chan and her homophobic crap?" One student would whisper to another.

"Pretty hypocritical, since I hear that Hanako-chan and Ms. Kashiwagi are really, really close. Like, a 'oh let me help you out of those clothes, teacher. I know you've had a long... hard day,' kind of close."

"Eww! Why would you even put that picture in my head!"

"I'm just sayin'. Rumors get around."

None of the gossiping students would ever actually say anything like that to her face, though. It was the general consensus that Hanako was a hostile force to be reckoned with. Even things like simple eye contact could be perceived as a threat in Hanako's eyes, so most students did what they could to avoid her.

Yukiko shook her head and sighed, upset. She wanted to keep her high spirits up, but this was just untenable. Not only was Hanako slandering Souji, but she was doing it in an incredibly offensive way with distasteful and derogatory language. She never could stand people like that. She would at times get in trouble for scolding customers at her inn when they would make similar remarks in her presence.

"A girl that isn't an insecure, ignorant, bigot like you would still be into him," Yukiko darkly muttered, "you're the one that looks like an abomin-…" Yukiko stopped herself before finishing the sentence. She didn't want to be like that.

Chie could tell her best friend was bothered by Hanako's remarks, and decided to change the subject to get her mind off things.

"So, have you taken any pictures? We wouldn't want to forget a moment like this, would we?" Yukiko's stern, upset face quickly lightened up. She laughed.

"I haven't! Good idea!" She took out her cell phone and pointed built-in camera at the stage. She could see Souji was still looking and smiling at her. He raised his eyebrow at her at the sight of the phone camera.

"Taking a picture, hmm?" Souji thought, "May as well strike a pose for the picture. I have this dumb sword prop. My as well put it to good use."

"Sounds like you're entrance is-" The MC begun to ask, but was interrupted by a wave of laughter from the audience. Souji decided to take a battle stance to pose for Yukiko's picture. He had his legs spread wide and squatted, one leg forward, one leg back. He leaned into his back leg, putting most of his weight on it. He held his sword over his head with both of his hands in a defensive position, ready to block any incoming attacks. While Souji knew this stance was plenty effective in a fight, he had to admit it looked pretty silly. Which is, of course, why he did it. He was sure he looked even more comical than he normally would, as he was crossdressing, and If you looked hard enough you could possibly see up his skirt.

The audience enjoyed this seemingly random absurdity. Souji couldn't tell if the audience was laughing at him or with him, but he didn't really care. He could see Yukiko was buckled over laughing whilst trying to take photos, so he already felt his ludicrous actions were vindicated.

"Dude, what are you doing!" Yosuke asked, dumbfounded.

"Yukiko's taking photos of us, and I want to look graceful and badass. Don't you want to look graceful and badass?"

"I should get Yosuke in on the fun," Souji thought, "he's just standing over there, looking at me like I'm a crazy person. Well, I'll show him!"

"En garde, hooker!" Souji exclaimed while changing to a more offensive battle stance.

"Did he just cool Yosuke-kun a hooker? Eh, I guess he does kind of look like one." One student in the audience would note.

"Why do you know what hookers look like, dude?" Another student would question.

"I've seen your mom."

"Oh, good one. Asshole."

Souji got up from his squat and shifted his weight to his front leg. He brought his sword down to around his waist level, parallel to the ground. The sword was faced away from his target. This stance was great for big, aggressive upward or downward strikes, which is why he often used this stance when fighting in the TV.

When asked how he knew all of these stances, he'd tell you he figured them out himself whilst fighting shadows in the TV. In reality, he would spend hours watching samurai movies trying to learn and mimic some of the samurai's movements, stances and techniques. This was a couple of years ago. He was in kendo club, and he wanted to impress a lady with his cool samurai stances.

Oh, how times haven't changed.

"En garde?" Yosuke said, "What! You want to fight?" Yosuke staggered back, having little to no idea just what the hell was happening. Admittedly, he was also afraid of Souji. Souji's easy going smile had suddenly changed to a stern, intimidating glare. He looked like he was ready to cut Yosuke in half as if he was a shadow.

"Yes! The crowd demands it! Get in a proper fighting stance!" Souji demanded. Souji admittedly had no idea what was happening either. All he knew was that the crowd seemed to be enjoying it, Yukiko was still laughing, and he somehow wanted to have a kendo match with someone who had no sword. Both literally and metaphorically, Souji noted.

Yosuke had no idea what to do. Was he really going to do this? Was he really going to let Souji drag him down the hole of insanity once again? The crowd was eager to see this confrontation, though, Yosuke didn't blame them. Anything would be better than this train wreck of a pageant.

"May as well go all the way with it..." Yosuke reminded himself before going into a battle stance. He had no sword prop, so he settled for a karate stance instead of a samurai once.

"Okay, let's go partner!" Yosuke said, letting himself embrace the insanity.

"Leave it to Souji to derail a pageant and start an impromptu fight with me in front of the entire school while we're crossdressing." Yosuke thought.

"First to three clean hits, got it?" Souji asked.

"Got it!"

"These guys are freakin' idiots..." The MC muttered to himself. He recognized he was no longer in control of the show and there was nothing he could do. The crowd's cheering and laughing drowned him out whenever he tried to get the pageant back on track. He knew he was going to get chewed out by the administration for this.

"Hey... I know that stance Yosuke's using!" Chie exclaimed, "It's from Trial of the Dragon! He remembered..." Something about Yosuke remembering a stance from one of her favorite movies warmed her heart. Granted, he may have just seen the stance somewhere else or he didn't even know he was in a recognizable, popular stance, but Chie choose to believe it was because Yosuke loved Trial of the Dragon just as much as she did.

"Enjoying yourselves up there, you freakin' faggots!" Hanako shouted at the stage. She yelled so loud that everyone in the auditorium heard her. Hanako's friends howled in laughter while an awkward, uncomfortable silence fell over the audience.

"Woah... nice job ruining the moment there, Hanako-chan." One student would say. He made sure he didn't say it loud enough for her to hear him.

"Yeah, she always does that. Like, whenever I'm staring at that Ai girl, she always has to get in the way. My woody goes away pretty damn fast, let me tell you."

"Dude... TMI."

Yukiko couldn't stop herself from turning and glaring at Hanako. Hanako glared back at her.

"What are you looking at, bitch!" Hanako threatened. The two were locked in an intense, hatred filled stare down. Yukiko opened her mouth to say something, but quickly shut it. She shook her head and looked away. She couldn't believe how offensive Hanako was. Where was her sense of good taste? Couldn't she keep her bigotry to herself? As much as she wanted to reprimand her, she forced herself to back down. She always tried to avoid conflict whenever she could. And frankly, she didn't think Hanako would be worth the breath.

Yukiko could see Chie turn to face Hanako with an angry expression. She knew Chie was going to stand up for her, because that's what Chie would always do. While the notion warmed her heart, she stopped Chie before she could say anything.

"Chie, don't. It's okay. She's not worth it and we may get in trouble." Chie opened her mouth to protest, but after one stern look from Yukiko, she kept her mouth shut and turned away from Hanako. Yukiko gave Chie a little shoulder hug.

"Thanks, though." The two shared a smile.

"...Anyway!" the MC said, using this opportune time to get the pageant back on track, "How about we get back to the questions, shall we? Can the contestants please return to their places on stage?" Souji and Yosuke left their battle stances and returned to their respective spots on stage.

Yukiko returned her attention to Souji. She was worried that Souji's fun, happy mood may have been hampered by Hanako's negative comments. The two locked eyes, and Souji noticed Yukiko's distressed expression. He assumed it was because of what Hanako said. He gave her a smile and a little thumbs up, doing what he could to reassure her that he was still okay. Souji was more disappointed than offended, actually. Sure, he was like Yukiko in that he couldn't stand horrible bigotry, but he was actually looking forward to having a rematch fight with Yosuke.

"I totally would have whooped your ass." Souji whispered to Yosuke. Yosuke chuckled.

"Like hell you would've!"

"Oh, I would've. Don't worry, I would have let you get one or two clean hits in so you could look good in front of Chie." Yosuke laughed and rolled his eyes. Souji was glad Yosuke was like in him in the fact that Hanako's comment didn't really get to him.

"So, as I was saying earlier, sounds like your is causing quite a stir! Did you sign yourself up?" The MC asked Souji. Souji smirked as an answer instantly came to mind, but he wasn't sure if this was the right venue to say such things. He reverted his attention back to Yukiko as he contemplated his answer.

Yukiko smiled at him, relieved that Souji was still in his usual mood. She took her hands and made them into a heart and directed it at Souji. She wanted to rebuff any deflation Souji may have been feeling, but she also wanted to express just how much of a fan she was of him and his ridiculous antics. Like most people in the audience, she was doubling over laughing when Souji decided to derail the pageant. Granted, she didn't actually get the chance to take any pictures, but she didn't care. She didn't need the pictures to remember this moment. This was the moment that she finally realized that she was, in fact, in love with Souji. She didn't know anyone that was even close to being like him, and she doubt she ever would. It was a pure and simple love. She simply just couldn't imagine being with anyone else. And in some way, Yukiko thought she could express her love for him with that heart.

"Hmm... she hearts me, does she?" Souji thought, "I once again wonder if it's a 'Oh, I love you Souji! You're the man I've been wanting for months! Now take those damn pants off right now! I want your babies!' kind of heart, or if it's a 'Oh, you're my best FRIEND Souji! Can you help me shop for some clothes? I want a male opinion so I can impress my BOYFRIEND! Who is not YOU! Because YOU'RE JUST A FRIEND TO ME! FRIENDS! DO YOU GET IT SOUJI! WE ARE ONLY FRIENDS!' kind of heart. I would love to think it's the former, but it could easily go either way. I think I know a way to find out, though..." Souji looked Yukiko dead in the eye as he answered the question.

"Oh, you know... a girl I like signed me up."

Souji watched Yukiko's eyes widen and her mouth fell agape. Her face went as red as her sweater. In the midst of her shock and awe, he could tell she was smiling. She quickly broke eye contact and looked down at her feet, presumably to hide her blush and smile. It was too late though. Souji already saw her reaction, and it was exactly what he wanted. His smile went from ear to ear.

"Smiling and blushing? That seems like a 'you're the man I've been wanting for months!' kind of reaction to me. I'll try to get further confirmation later."

Rumors and speculation began to spread throughout the crowd like wildfire. Who could this mystery girl be? Souji was known to hang around many female students, so narrowing down to just one proved to be difficult for some.

"I bet it's Ai Elerbra. I saw them skip class together once." One student would say.

"No way, she already has like, three boyfriends."

"Yeah, exactly. She's a whore, so why not one more?"

"I doubt Souji-kun would stand for that. One of my friends said she saw Yumi Ozawa, the crazy girl that's in the Drama club, and Souji-kun kissing. It has to be her."

"No way, Souji-kun may act stupid, but there is no way he's actually stupid enough to get with her. They probably just did it for some dumb play. I bet she was ecstatic to be able to kiss him, though."

"Wouldn't you? Oh wait, I forgot, you're into that weird Hanamura dude."

"S-Shut up!"

"Oh my gosh!" Rise squealed, causing Naoto to flinch and quickly cover her ears for a moment, "Souji-senpai likes one of us! Who do you think it is, Naoto-kun? I have seen you and him around lately..." Rise was giddy with excitement. While she didn't necessarily think it was her (though, she wouldn't be against it if it was), the brewing of a potential relationship within their investigation team was so exciting! She knew it was going to happen sooner or later!

"N-No, I doubt it's me..." Naoto replied, flustered, "I would suspect it's Yukiko-san, judging by her reaction." Naoto gestured toward the blushing and motionless Yukiko.

Yukiko was similarly smiling from ear to ear. She always thought Souji may have some feelings for her, but hearing him practically outright tell her he had feelings for her... it was mind boggling. The fact that he was looking directly at her while made it even more embarrassing, but she had to admit it was kind of romantic.

She looked up at Souji briefly and met his grey eyes and gigantic smile before having to turn away. She was conflicted. A part of her wanted to scream out "I love you, Souji!" and confess her feelings for him right then and there, but she also wanted to stick to her plan. The plan would make for a far more romantic, sentimental, and far less embarrassing confession than screaming over a buzzing crowd during a crossdressing pageant would.

"Hey, now's not the time to reveal stuff like that!" Yosuke said to Souji.

"What are you talking about? This is the BEST time. Why not confess your love to a lady while being dressed as one?" Yosuke rolled his eyes and sighed.

"You're crazy, dude."

"I'm glad you caught on so quickly, Yosuke."

"I heard that Kashiwagi threatened she would sign students up herself if not enough people signed up for this pageant." One student recalled.

"What? Can she do that? Wait, are you trying to sa- no... dude, no way."

"Hey, you never know."

"Oh my gosh!" Rise squealed once again while grabbing ahold of Yukiko, "Souji-senpai likes you! That's so cute! Do you like him back?"

"Pardon me if you think otherwise, but I do think you two would make quite the pairing." Naoto commented.

"W-Why do you guys think it's me? It could be a-any of us..." Yukiko said, playing ignorant. She knew it was her, (or at least, she thought it was her. If she found out later it wasn't her, she would lose it,) but she didn't want to deal with her friends embarrassing questions right now. She felt mentally and emotionally drained, and she desperately wanted to find a place to sit so she could settle down.

"Oh dude! I bet it's Chie-chan that Souji-kun likes!" another student would speculate, "They sit right next to each other in class, which makes for the perfect opportunity to get to know someone and get with them!"

"Eh, I don't know. I'm not sure she's even the type of girl that's into guys. I mean, have you ever seen her with a boyfriend? She usually just hangs around Yukiko-san."

"Are you calling Chie-chan a lesbian? DUDE! How hot would it be if Yukiko-san was a lesbian?"

"Oh dude, yes! But I've been hearing that it's probably Yukiko-san that Souji-kun likes, and she likes him back. So, there goes that fantasy..."

"A man can dream, can't he?"

"Oh, Yukiko's just playing dumb!" Chie said, "She knows it's her. And of course she likes him back! She's like, in love with him! He's all she tal-"

"Chie!" Yukiko interrupted, as a crimson tinge returned to her face. The group of girls shared a laugh at Yukiko's expense.

"Awww!" Rise exclaimed. While Naoto could agree that this was an exciting time, she wished Rise wouldn't emit these loud, deafening sounds while she was in such a close proximity. "You two are going to make an adorable couple! You need to tell him as soon as the pageant ends!"

"Rumors going around say that it's Yukiko-chan that Souji-kun likes," one of Hanako's friends told her, "isn't that the girl that gave you a dirty look earlier?"

"Yeah..." Hanako scowled, "you're right. The bitch was picking a fight with me, but she got scared and backed off. And Souji-kun likes her now? It gives me even more of a reason to hate her. I'm going to go give her a piece of my mind..." Hanako began forcing her way through the crowd to confront Yukiko.

"You want to know the real reason why I choose now, out of all times, to confess?" Souji said, changing from his usual flamboyant tone to a more stern, serious, and leaderly one, "I'm tired of waiting."

"What do you mean?" Yosuke wondered.

"I always say that I'm waiting for the perfect time to tell Yukiko I wanted to be with her. I'm tired of waiting for this theoretical 'perfect time'. I'm tired of being a coward and making excuses for myself. I want to be with her more than anything. It's about damn time I did something about it." Souji gave a Yosuke a serious, determined look just to let him know how sincere he was being. He then felt a smile creep up his face. He had an idea.

"It's a great feeling, Yosuke! Even if she doesn't like me, at least I don't have to worry about it anymore. It'll suck for awhile, but I can at least be done with it and move on. You should try it sometime!"

Yosuke nodded, lost in thought. Sure, while Souji could was an idiot at times, and frequently made him the butt of his jokes, Yosuke couldn't help but admire and praise his philosophies. He was the group's leader and Yosuke's best friend for a reason. He always seemed to know what to do and supported his friends whenever he could. He pondered Souji's advice.

"I should try it some time? He must be talking about Chie. He does have a point... when has me being a coward gotten me anywhere? What am I waiting for? Why don't I just tell her?"

"Our last contestant is a random, unaffiliated entrant! She's a fri-" Yosuke cut the MC off.

"Uh, hey! I just wanted to say that a, um, girl I like signed me up too! Her name is C-Chie Satonaka! Uh, yeah... that's her name... Chie. I like Chie."


End file.
